Children's Sleep - Natural Medicine?

DD's sleeping is a nightmare. For a while now she's been waking every 1-2 hours overnight. Sometimes we'll get a stretch of 3 hours if we're lucky (two nights ago we got 4 hours!!!) but it generally starts an hour after she's fist gone to sleep. So she'll be in bed at 7:30, up at 8:30, dreamfeed at 9:30, then up at 10:30, 11:30, and so on. I had a bit of a moan at Mother's Group about it last week, and one of the mums has given me some Brauers Children's Sleep. I haven't touched it because I don't believe in medicating a child just to get some sleep.

On the packet it goes on about how it's natural, and uses "homeopathic ingredients that support rather than suppress the body's natural healing abilities". But still, the ingredients list is full of words I can't pronounce and don't recognise. So yeah, I've been reluctant to use it.

Until last night. DD woke every 50 minutes on the dot, from the time she went to sleep. On a good wake up she'd be asleep within 10 minutes, other times it was over 20. I figured she can't be hungry every 50 minutes right? But if I try any way of getting her to sleep other than feeding her, she hits, kicks and scratches at my chest until I give it to her. At 5am she decided that was it, no more sleep. I had her in bed between 12 & 4, but there was still no extra sleep for either of us because she makes such a big fuss over waking up and latching on.

So this morning I'm wrecked. I'm resenting DD for making me feel like I can barely stand straight, and for falling asleep just now because she'll probably nap better than she slept all night. I'm ****ed at DH for cooing at me and saying "Try not to be angry". So basically, I'm now considering this stupid 'sleep solution'. And I'm wondering if anyone's tried it, if it's actually all natural, and if I should or shouldn't try it. I don't know what else I can do right now.

Is that the one with belladonna in.it?
WeUsed the brauers calm, didnt do squat.
WeRide out bad sleep.patterns, its hard but better thanm doping kido's imo. But if you're desperate cant hurt to try

:hug: hun it's quite hard when they don't let you get some rest.

1. Do you or have you tried co-sleeping from the start of the night?
With DD2 i found if i layed in bed with her, fed her to sleep and then got up and snuck out she slept better, otherwise popping her in bed with me when i was going down for the night and she seemd to sleep better.

2. Room Temperature
I never used a thermometer but i found if i had a small heater on and a nice comfy blanket both the girls slept a lot better and woke less, they still woke when hungry but the not so necessary wakings were down to a minimum.

While i don't recommend medicating a child to sleep i don't see the harm in maybe giving the Children's Sleep a shot, i wouldn't use it every night but maybe see if it does make a difference and then chat to your MHCN or GP about it. Maybe you could do a bath, feed, sleep routine with some nice soft naturals smells (i don't suggest bedtime bath :( )

Sorry hun i have nor real an swers but couldn't read and not reply.

You could try camomile tea before bedtime or the celestial seasonings sleepy tea with valarian in it.
Maybe something with some lavender essential oils in the room or even a bit of a massage with a teeny tiny bit of lavender in the oil (you might be able to buy a lavender scented massage oil).

ETA - just saw her age. She might be a bit young for herbal teas :doh: Then again a tiny bit of camomile tea can't be worse than some of the infant medications out there.

Lol Onyx, I was going to ask if the tea was for her or me! Or maybe the smells of it will help. It says for babies 6 months to 2 years (so really I shouldn't even be trying it until the 16th) to give 1ml. It seems like such a tiny amount, that I'm thinking maybe I'd be better off with the essential oil idea in the bedroom.

Thanks for all your answers. She's been asleep now for an hour & 15 minutes (yep, longer than any stretch of sleep last night!) and so I'm feeling loads better. Should have tried napping myself, but I was too angry to sleep :redface: I've worked out all my frustrations in cleaning and feeling better.

Skybie, it does have Belladonna in it. I've googled all of the ingredients, and they're all plants. Chamomile is included in it. I think this is kind of the next step from Brauer's Calm, it's brand new. My friend works at Brauers, and after they've tested their new products they put a pile out on a 'grab table' so she's gotten a whole pile of this for free. But if the Brauer's Calm didn't do anything, I don't see why this would be so much better. Still reckon the essential oils might be better as a first step.

ZF, we have a pretty good bedtime routine that's been the same since she was tiny. Bath time at 6, then we go to the bedroom where it's quiet and dim and I read her a book then feed to sleep. I just don't know why she's waking again only an hour later! We have a thermometer in the room and she's dressed right for the temperature. Last night I checked her chest and back and she felt perfect.

We can't seem to get co-sleeping to work unless she's already super tired. She will only sleep in our bed if she has her head on my arm and is lying on her side facing me. I don't understand it, but if she lies any other way she fusses around. I put her like that and she falls straight to sleep! But then her head and my arm get sweaty, so I try gently putting her head on the mattress while she's asleep, and she starts crying. That's why she was only in bed til 4 and not longer, after 4 she wouldn't sleep at all in our bed and did then next 50 minutes in her cot.

I don't know if her teeth can still be causing problems? The first two bottom ones came through last week, but they've well and truly broken through and she's been happy during the day.

Thanks again for your answers.

ETA: She just woke up after sleeping for an hour and a half, smiled up at me from her hammock and made me just burst into tears for feeling so awful earlier :( Stupid sleep deprived emotions!

Sleep deprivation is so tough! Homeopathy uses minute doses, so it should definitely be safe but maybe not effective. It might sound a bit weird, but have you taken your DD to see a paediatric osteopath or chiropractor? It worked wonders for my DD who literally went from waking every 45 mins to sleeping 10 hours straight! Lots of friends have had similar results. Good luck!

I've been recommended to see a chiropractor a few times now (as DD will only feed on one side) but have never gotten around to it. Now I'm thinking we should probably book her in sooner rather than later.

Given the feeding thing I'd try chiro or osteo, yeah.
Just try to be realistic with her and yourself - it is really hard and you do need a break sometimes. Working around it is often more effective. so doing whatever you can to maximise sleep - bedshare, nap during the day, forget about housework, sleep ins on the weekend, etc,etc
in a couple of year's time you'll look back and think, oh yeah, that wasn't so bad really ;)

She's booked in for the chiro on Friday morning. I wasn't expecting to be able to get in so soon but they've had a cancellation!

DH is really stepping up and helping when he can, but he's got to function at work and does maintenance on big machinery so I'd rather not have him too exhausted. I've cried it out this morning (even cried about breaking a knife in my failed Rocky Road lol) and feel loads better. Tomorrow & Thurs we have no plans, so I think we'll just take it easy and sleep when we can.

I think it's worse because she used to sleep through. It's worse knowing that she's done it plenty of times, and I remember how rested I felt! I don't know if maybe this had been the norm all along I'd just be used to it and just get by. But remembering what it used to be like... Oh well. But we'll get by, it won't be forever :) And hopefully the chiropractor can help us out.

Oh hun :hug: Its so tough when you cant get enough sleep.
Just to let you know-Sophie has a nap after dinner and sometimes a nap about 8.30 but she doesnt want to stay in bed til after 9.30-10pm, she will have her last feed just before she sleeps then, and some nights she'll wake 2,4,6am other nights she'll wake 4ish and 8ish I think she has slept through twice. None of my babies have been regular through the night sleepers at 6 mths.
Have you tried giving her a bottle of warm water when she is waking so much. It'll make her feel full then but allow her to get properly hungry and after a few nights should change her routine a little.
The other thing I suggest is a dummy- if she choaks on it, go down a size. Best to introduce it at a time when she is not upset- perhaps after a feed when she is use to sucking on something?

Hope the chiro helps

Hon, I'm on my phone so can't see her age but if I read right, she's just short of 6 months, yes? The Wonder Week 20 (so around 5 months) is an absolute doozy (DD was a nightmare for about 5 weeks!) and it wouldn't surprise me at all if that's what's she's going through at the moment :hug: This too shall pass!!

As for Brauers, I think it would be worth a shot but all kids are different and react differently to medications including natural and homeopathic stuff. Brauers never worked on our DD but many of my friends had success with it. It certainly can't hurt to try it - you all need a good break!

If she's just cut her bottom teeth then there is a good chance her top ones are on the way too. DD did so well with her first two teeth then every tooth after that was hell. Children's Nurofen quickly became our friend, it was the only thing that would settle her. Your DD could very well be in pain, something else to consider. I know some mums don't like to medicate their children but my personal opinion is I don't like pain and take medication to ease my pain when required so why would I deprive my child of that if there is a good chance she's in pain? I'm not out to offend or judge anyone choices but not medicating a child when in pain just doesn't sit well with me. You'll quickly know if pain is the issue if she settles after some meds.

Good luck with the chiro too - they are amazing! We took DD when she was around 10 weeks for her reflux but she also had massive neck issues due to being a vacuum delivery. The difference after one session was incredible!

I hope you get some much needed sleep soon :hug:

Could she still be going through that wonder week? She's 26 weeks today, so I thought that would have passed long ago and this was something else. Although I just jumped back onto the site for a look, and there's one at 26 weeks too!! I thought there wasn't another for quite a while yet! So yeah, that's probably playing a big part - we moved, she got teeth and had a wonder week all at once :doh:

I'm a little hesitant with nurofen or panadol, seeing as she shows no signs of pain or anything during the day. It's only her night sleep that's suffering. We've got some really good teething gel for her so we're using that when she needs it, and if things get worse or the chiro doesn't help we'll try the Brauers I reckon. I've definitely heard a lot of good things about this guy we're seeing though, so I'm hopeful it will help!

DT, we've tried three different dummies, and she still doesn't get it lol. She reckons they're chew toys, and just won't suck on them. I've tried popping it in straight after feeding, when she's all happy and relaxed, when she's almost asleep, but she seems to be the only baby I know who really doesn't like a dummy!

i would try Brauer's Calm before trying Brauer's Sleep. It might work for your little one. We have only ever used the Calm one.

Lots of kids don't like dummies. My DD took one from 6 weeeks to 4 months (the worst of her colic time) and then never took it again.

The No Cry Sleep Solution has some ideas if bub wants to suckle all night, although i didn't try the techniques until my LO was older.

take care

mine never took to dummies either :)

I just wanted to say that my 13 month old STILL wakes up every 2 hours (a good stretch) it's soooo exhausting and nothing is worse then when they decide they don't want to go back to sleep (eg last night when he was awake for 1.5hrs at 1am!!!!!). So unfortunately I can't offer any assistance, my son has always always always resisted sleep from day 1. A breastfeed is the only way to resettle at night, and the only way he will initially go to sleep is by being rocked to music in his hammock (we have one that is suitable til 3 years old). So unfortunately I really dont have any advice but I just wanted to say that I really really feel for you. Hopefully it could be teething or something (we always hope for an explanation lol). All the best hun.... Stay strong you're doing so well!!!!


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Thanks Danni :) It's funny, but after a night of waking every 50 minutes, when she changes back to waking every two hours it feels fabulous, like I'm getting so much rest! Lol.

When DD is in her own bed, DH always wakes as soon as she starts to stir - I sleep through that part and wake when she's actually awake. So last night DH woke up when she first started stirring and decided to let me sleep and see if he could help. I woke up an hour later to him rocking her and playing her seahorse (like a glow worm that usually helps her sleep). The poor guy had spent an hour trying to get her back to sleep!! I felt awful that I'd slept through the whole thing and told him he should have woken me when it didn't work. He said she spent a fair bit of time trying to talk to me, making her 'hello' noise, so he'd move so she couldn't see me and she'd twist around yelling out the 'hello' noise. She'd start to drift off, then force herself awake again. Then when I started moving and waking up she got really excited and started again with yelling the 'hello' noise lol. I ended up feeding her back to sleep. This morning DH said thinking back on it, it didn't feel like an hour and remembering her trying to get my attention was actually pretty funny. Poor buggers!

Just a perspective from the other side - my son could not go to sleep on his own until over 2 and was a very frequent waker in the first 18 months. But.... now he's a joy to put to bed. Honestly, some days, it's the easiest thing we do all day. It all passes in time. Being there for them now, when they need you, is worth it. It's hard right now - I know! - but right now you are helping them develop the ability to self soothe by building their sense of security and wellbeing.
Being there does not mean mum has to do 100% - that's physically not possible a lot of the time, so it's important to make sure you have several adult helpers and get time to yourself as well.

I'm hoping to be in the same position in a few years time MadB! Right now I know she needs help to get to sleep, and from day one she's been fed, rocked, sung to, whatever she needs. During the day she's so easy to get to sleep - if I'm not available DH will rock her and sing to her or play the seahorse, or take her for a walk in the pram in the back paddock. It's just at night, she needs to feed every single time, no matter how long since last time. We tried just a couple of times to see if she'd go to sleep during the night other ways, but it looks like feeding to sleep is it for now. Not that it's actually feeding, she just holds my nipple in her mouth and is asleep in no time. That's fine, if that's what she needs then that's what we'll do. Like they say, this time will be so short and she won't want to snuggle up to me like that forever :)

Has it got any better?
DS2 never liked a dummee either. I hate to say it but I still get called into his room most nights. I wake to hear "Mummy I need you" and hes just checking I'll come, making himself feel secure I guess.
Hope you have better luck then me :lol:

Last night was average. Not super bad, not super good. One time when she woke was actually funny, she started making crying noises in her sleep and rolled onto her side. So I was getting up to her when she suddenly rolled onto her tummy and got into crawling position! In her sleep! That woke her up and she looked at me like "what the heck am I doing like this?!" Lol.

I'm not expecting tonight to be great. We didn't make it to the chiro because I accidentally booked it at the same time as her vaccinations. She doesn't usually sleep well the night of her needles, so I'm preparing myself for very little sleep :)

One plus is, all this week she's been a dream to get to sleep. Even now she's quietly feeding and dozing off, she'll be in bed before 7:30.

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Hope you all have a good night tonight sleepwise. For what it's worth - I've used both calm and sleep on DS - more success with the calm than the sleep but sporadic with both (calm has worked better when he's been teething)